Two Become One
by vivaforever597
Summary: Two conversations between Zuko and Toph surrounding their wedding at the Fire Palace.
1. Before

Zuko sat by the pond, staring blankly into the night. He had seen so much in this palace: his father's power plays, his sister's madness, Mai's long-held but late-uncovered infatuation... But Ozai and Azula were imprisoned now, and Mai had, after much tumult, left him. So it wasn't quite with nostalgia that he remembered his life there. If anything, it was with longing for a happier past that had never been, and could never be.

He tried to concentrate on the times when he had been happiest, or at least most contented: feeling safe in his mother's embrace; running through the grounds with a young, more carefree Azula; making love with Mai for the first time. But the more he thought of those times, the more he realized how rare they had been. He was glad of the opportunity he had now to write a new history for his life in this home.

His reverie was abruptly halted when he felt a soft punch on his arm. "Ow!" he cried softly. He rubbed his arm instinctively, though the punch hadn't really hurt.

"Thinking about me, Princess?" Toph teased, apparently unapologetic for her sneak attack.

"In a way," he murmured. "Just remembering everything that's happened here?"

Toph slid to the ground next to him. "Mai?" she asked. It was still surprising to him how well she knew him. At times, it was almost as if she could read his mind. She tried to hide the slight discomfort in her voice, as she always did when the subject of his former girlfriend came up, but he knew her well enough to hear it, even in only one word.

"Among others," he admitted as he leaned against her. "You, for one."

Toph blushed slightly. "I haven't been here that long," she muttered.

"Long enough," Zuko replied. He reached over to gently run his hand through her hair. It was as long as it had ever been, reaching just past her shoulders. "And tomorrow you'll be the Fire Lady," he murmured.

Toph pressed against him a bit more firmly. "Are you ready?" she asked.

He shook his head, for his benefit rather than hers. "No," he admitted. "I'll never be completely ready for something like this. But it's the right time." He turned to study her face, worried that he'd hurt her. Instead, a small smile formed on her face.

"I know how you feel," she reassured him. He watched her lips as they carefully formed the syllables. Then, unable (and unwilling) to restrain himself, he met them with his, lightly wrapping his hand around the back of her head. She grasped the back of his neck, just as gently. They held their positions for what seemed both like an instant and an eternity until Toph pulled back, ending the kiss.

It was far from their first, but Zuko thought it ranked among their best. "That's how I show affection," he whispered, remembering her words to him the first time he'd been on the receiving end of one of her punches.

Toph grinned as she got to her feet. "Yeah? Well, this is how I do," she replied as she delivered another.

This time, for the first time, he returned it.


	2. After

The next evening, Toph entered her new chambers to find Zuko standing at the window overlooking the courtyard. "It's so beautiful," he murmured. "I wish you could see it."

Toph grunted. "You people wish I could see everything," she said. "I don't need to."

"Sorry," Zuko replied as he walked over to give his new wife a light hug. "It's just hard to imagine not being able to see the things that mean so much to me."

"You sound like Madam Fussy Britches," Toph muttered, though she returned the hug. "'It means so much'? Next I know, you'll be spouting off about 'hope for the future.'"

"Well, I — I —" Zuko stammered.

"I'm only teasing," Toph said with a laugh as she pulled away from the hug to punch him. "So, what should we do now?"

"Go to bed?" Zuko suggested. "It's late. We're both tired."

Toph pouted. "I want to do something fun," she grumbled.

"Tomorrow," Zuko promised. "For now, let's get some sleep." He took her hand and led her to the cot he'd had arranged for them. He didn't find it as comfortable as a real bed, but Toph grew nervous when she was too far from the earth to which she was so connected. Zuko had agreed on the cot as he didn't want to sleep apart from her, and besides, it was a comparatively small sacrifice. After all, he'd slept on much more uncomfortable patches of ground when he'd traveled with his uncle, and with Aang.

After they'd crawled between the covers, Zuko realized that Toph was lying fairly still while he squirmed, making himself comfortable. "Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She continued to face the ceiling. "It's just so different," she said.

"What is?"

"Being royalty. I was nobility back with my parents, but to actually be royal? It's odd."

"Oh. Is that all that you're thinking about?" he prodded.

"Nah," she admitted. "Being married to you — that's different, too." She snuggled closer to him. "But it's nice," she added quietly, as if making a confession.

Zuko chuckled affectionately and placed his arm around her. "I think so, too," he said before placing a kiss on her brow.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive. I know I said last night I didn't know if I was ready to get married, but, well, there's no one else I'd even consider it with."

Toph flushed with pleasure. "Not Mai?" she asked, her tone more confident than it had been when she'd last brought up the other girl.

"Never."

"Not Ty Lee?"

"No."

"Sugar Queen?"

At that, Zuko stifled a laugh. "Katara? No, not at all."

"That's good to hear," Toph murmured as she pressed against him even more. "I wouldn't marry anyone else, either."

They lay there, holding each other and smiling to themselves, for several minutes. It would be a good marriage, Zuko thought, a happy one. "I'm so lucky to have you," he breathed, only realizing that he'd said it out loud after the words had escaped.

"I'm luckier," Toph said, almost as quietly. There was another pause before she spoke again. "So are we just going to lie here all night?"

"Well, we'll probably fall asleep at some point," Zuko said, pretending not to understand her insinuation.

"You don't want to do anything before that, Princess?"

Zuko stifled a laugh. "I might be amenable to it. What were you thinking of?"

Toph laughed mock-maliciously. "As if you didn't know," she whispered.

It was a long while before they finally did fall asleep.

* * *

_In the "credit where credit is due" department, the idea of Toph being uncomfortable in a real bed comes from a wonderful Toph/Zuko fic I read, "The Badgerfrog Kiss" by Madame Hatter._

_Also, to any Zutara shippers who read this, I hope you realize that I'm not trying to bash your ship! I kind of ship it too (though Kataang and Toko are two of my OTPs), but in the context of this fic, I didn't think Zuko would be even remotely romantically interested in Katara._


End file.
